Day 13 Wednesday, Sep. 08 -- Shopping and Other Extreme Sports Around Queenstown

Synopsis

We started the morning in Arrowtown to do some shopping (Arrowtown’s claim to fame). We then decided to try out some of the famous extreme sports around Queenstown. We took a jetboat ride up the Shotover river and capped the day off by bungy jumping off the Kawarau Bridge, the original commercial bungy jumping site. What a rush!

Detailed Journal

We got up this morning and headed into Arrowtown for some shopping on our way out of the Queenstown area. As we were parking the van ~0830, Lynette asked Jason if this was the end of all that he had hoped to do in Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world. She said, “It’s kinda weird to me that we come all this way and don’t do Something.” So, we discussed potential “extreme” sports we could try. We agreed to do something and drove to Queenstown to talk to the people at the Visitor’s Center. We were in Queenstown at ~0900 and scheduled a ride in the Shotover Jet for 1215. We decided to go ahead and do some shopping in Queenstown until our scheduled activity. We grabbed a quick snack at the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) before unloading our purchases in the van and heading over to the check-in point in Queenstown.
We checked in at 1205 and were on the bus from Queenstown at 1215. We watched a brief instructional video during the 10-minute drive to the site. Once there, we put on huge splash jackets and a life jacket. We, being the first 2 people ready, seized the front row seats in the boat. The Shotover Jet Boat seats a total of 11 people (including the driver – three in the front row and 4 in the second and third rows). The boat took us on a tour up and down the Canyon surrounding a portion of the Shotover River owned by the company. The boat traveled at an average speed of 70 km/hour with a top speed of 90 km/hour. During the course of the ride through the narrow canyon, the driver would occasionally do full 360deg spins. It was quite a little rush, especially when the cold river water would catch you just right on the side of your face. The total trip was approximately 1/2 hour.

We returned to Queenstown after purchasing a postcard with a picture of us on the boat during a half-spin and went in search of our next activity. Queenstown is the home of the very first commercial bungee site in the world. Three guesses on what we did this afternoon – and the first two don’t count. So, at 2pm, we made a 430pm appointment with the AJ Hackett Bungee Company to complete a tandem jump (together) off the 43-meter-high Kawarau Bridge – the first ever commercial bungee jump location and the founding company. We hung out in Queenstown for a little more shopping for the 2 hours before our drive out to the Bridge.

We got to the jump site at around 410pm, checked in, paid, were weighed and made our way onto the bridge. They bound Jason’s legs first, then Lynette’s. Our feet were then harnessed together. The guys working the bridge were extremely proficient. Within a matter of minutes, we were bound together and ready to go. We told them we were willing to take a slight touch of the water. They gave us a few instructions: (1) put inside arms around each other and other arm in the air, (2) as we approach the water, put your chin on your chest and keep the outside arm extended, and (3) the farther we jump out, the less water we are going to hit. With that, the guy put us at the edge of the jump, with Jason shaking so much his grip on Lynette was a little weak, and counted down from 5 (not in seconds mind you, as quick as you can say 5-4-3-2-1). The quick countdown was good, it gave you no time to think about what you were doing. Jason led the jump and Lynette reluctantly followed, knowing that it would be bad if she didn’t go with him. We both remember vividly the first few seconds, the feeling of freefall, and the intensity of the view below. It was incredible. Then, our brains both seemed to have shut down briefly. The “what the heck are you doing, the brain is shutting off so you don’t remember this”. Then, as we approached the water, the “I want to live” stimulant to the brain kicked in, and the rest is within our memories. Jason was yelling his favorite four-letter word for crap while Lynette just screamed and clutched Jason throughout the first fall and the bounces that followed. Although we came close to the water, we weren’t able to touch it. After several bounces, a two-man crew in a boat on the river paddled over, grabbed us, untied us and dropped us off on the shore. We hung around down there and watched the next guy jump before heading up to the main building to check out the pictures and video footage the company took of our jump. We paid the extra NZ$50 for a couple of pictures of the jump and the VHS video footage. Tourist suckers. J
Across the road from the bungee jump site was a recommended viewing area to see the
portion of the Kawarau River used for the filming of the Pillars of Argonath along the Anduin River in the Lord of the Rings. They are impressive, steep canyon walls.

From there, we drove to Arrowtown to do the shopping we had set out for in the morning. According to our guide book, it was a shopping meca of sorts. We got there at 520pm, only to find most stores close at or before 530pm. We decided to eat out, for a change, in Queenstown. Given that we weren’t sure what time we would be done, we decided to stop by the same campground we stayed in last night and pay for a spot before heading into Queenstown. We checked out the sunset views before making our way to the Beefeater Restaurant for dinner. We walked in at about 0710 and were seated within 20 minutes. Lynette ordered the ribeye and Jason had the porterhouse. The meals came with a baked potato and a salad bar. The salad bar, turns out, was more of a “bar of salads”. They were fairly good – it jus wasn’t what we expected. We also split a bottle of Brookfields 2003, Ohiti Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard is in Hawke’s Bay NZ (by “split”, we mean Jason had 2 small glasses and Lynette had the rest). We both agreed this was an excellent wine. An extremely smooth cabernet. The food and drink was excellent, just what we needed after the pseudo-camp food we had been sustaining ourselves with. The only downside of the restaurant was the service, which was very friendly, but a bit negligent and slow. This is when we realized the downside of a non-tipping society. We finished dinner, returned to the campsite, and went to bed for the evening.